Roma activists David Tišer and Karel Karika are this year’s recipients
of the František Kriegel award in recognition of civic courage handed out
by the Charter 77 foundation. The award, which will be presented at a
ceremony in Prague on Wednesday, acknowledges their fight for equality and
human rights for members of the Romani community as well as for the
socially excluded.

David Tišer is an LGBT and Roma rights activist and also the founder of
the ART ART organisation, which raises awareness about the LGBT community
and its Romani members and supports Romani art.

According to the Charter 77 foundation, Tišer is the first Romani man to
become a human rights defender and representative of LGBT minorities,
combating stereotypes not only in the majority society but also inside
Romani communities.

Karel Karika is a municipal councillor from the north Bohemian city of
Ústí nad Labem, who works with the homeless and people living on the
poverty line. Among other things he helped local residents to avoid
homelessness after the lodging house they were living in was closed.
Martin Groman is a member of the jury:

“They are both fighting for the rights of minorities, people excluded
from the society and people who are otherwise disadvantaged. Yet at the
same time, they are both members of the Roma minority.”

Both recipients of the František Kriegel award say the situation for the
Roma minority has worsened in recent years. Karel Karika:

“Hateful attacks against the Roma community are fuelled by prejudice and
supported by some of the country’s top politicians. I don’t think that
Czechs are racists or xenophobes. They are driven by preconceptions and
disinformation.”

Mr Tišer says one such misconception is that the xenophobic mood has
shifted in recent years from the Roma minority towards immigrants:

“Hatred towards the Roma minority did not diminish with the migrant
crisis. Many people think so, but in reality it is still part of public
life. The fact that it was not featured prominently in the media in recent
years, doesn’t mean that we don’t encounter it in real life.”

David Tišer hopes the František Kriegel Award will help him raise
awareness of the struggles of the Roma LGBT minority and open up a debate
about the issue:

“This is the most important thing for me. I want them to become a
visible and strong community of people. I hope it will help young Roma not
to be afraid to come out, to join us and work with us.”

For his part, Karel Karika plans to use the 25,000-crown cheque that
comes with the award to fund his organisation, which cooks meals for the
homeless.

The František Kriegel Prize was founded in Stockholm in 1987 in the name
of the only Czechoslovak government representative who refused to sign the
Moscow protocol after the Soviet Invasion of 1968.

Several figures associated with the Romani community received the award in
the past, including Romani scholar Milena Hübschmannová or musician Radek
Banga.